A Hidden Perfection
by Peacemaker01
Summary: Music is a big part of my life. Hinata Hyuga goes to the most advanced musical talents high school in the country. There, she meets a new student whose name is Naruto Uzumaki.  Sorry, there is a better description inside...   '
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey guys! I love to sing and play piano a lot! Music is a very big part of my life, so I want to help share that joy with my writing! This is about Hinata Hyuga, the shy, but secretly very talented young singer that is attending the most advance musical talents high school in the entire country. On her first day of school, she meets a new student that has decided to join her Senior class and his name is Naruto Uzumaki. I know the idea is un-original, but my story is 100% mine! Except for the songs though... those aren't mine. All songs in this fanfic will belong to their respectful owners. So... get to reading!

A Hidden Perfection

Chapter 1  
>Naruto Uzumaki<p>

Hinata touched pen to paper and straightened the glasses covering her eyes as she though hard about what to write. Not coming up with anything, Hinata gave up and sighed. She looked at her clock and got up off her bed and headed to the bathroom. It was too late anyways, she needed to get to her first day of school. After a shower and choosing what to wear, Hinata moved downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning father. Good morning Neji." said Hinata with a timid smile and in a soft voice. Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuga looked up from his morning paper, gave her a stern nod and went back to his reading. Neji looked at her, gave her a kind smile, and went back to munching on a piece of toast. Her family was always very quiet and was always very strict, so Hinata always felt uncomfortable being around them. But still, they were family.

"It's almost time to go you two. You better get going." said Hiashi not looking up from his paper. Neji nodded and stood from the table.

"Very well then, we shall see you later." said Neji moving over to the sink to wash his hands and moved over to Hinata. "Shall we go?" he asked, Hinata nodded and waved goodbye to her father as she walked out the door with Neji. As they were walking down the driveway and heading to Neji's car, Hinata sigh and Neji looked at her.

"Hinata? You seem more tired than usual. Did you not sleep very well?" asked Neji sounding concerned for her well-being. Hinata gave an embarrassed smile and nodded.

"Oh yes, I did. It's just that… well, I can't think of anything to write." said Hinata. Neji lifted an eyebrow and start the car once they were both inside and buckled up.

"Really? You mean write as in homework… or music?" asked Neji sounding disappointed with this conversation. Hinata blushed and nodded at Neji.

"I-I'm sorry…" said Hinata looking away a bit. Neji pulled out of the drive way and sped down the road.

"Don't be sorry." said Neji giving a big smile. Hinata looked at him with a kind smile. "You know your father is the only one that doesn't approve. Frankly, I think that you're very good at what you do." Neji said reassuring Hinata inher own abilities. Hinata smiled at Neji's compliment and laid her head on the back of the seat and let the wind of the convertible brush against her face as they moved closer to high school. Neji pulled into a parking space and opened the door for Hinata as she got out of the car. After closing the doors of the car, Hinata sighed as she looked at the high school before her. Hinata only got into this school because her father could pay for her to get in. This school was the Konoha High School of Music and Arts, the best of all the high schools in the city. It was mostly meant for the musically gifted, but if you could pay a certain fee, then any student could attend this school. It wasn't that Hinata didn't like the school, she didn't like that everyone around her was so spectacular in their own way, but that she was so plain and average. Nothing about her really stood out.

"C'mon. We need to get going." said Neji as he picked up his backpack from inside the car and headed to the stairs of the school. As they walked up to the school doors and down the halls, someone was always playing music, singing, dancing, acting or something else that stood out from everyone else. It was like the entire atmosphere was full of people that just wanted to celebrate their gifts, talents and life in general. It really was a very special school! Hinata enjoyed walking down the halls and seeing how lively and wonderful this school was with music always playing and the teachers were always outstanding. Almost every teacher in the school had at least one amazing talent and every teacher was almost like one of the students. Hanging out with each other and actually enjoying one another's company, and musical talent. As the first bell rang, Hinata's first class of the day was Mr. Kakashi Hatake. He was the coolest language arts teacher and a great musician as well as an actor. She always looked forward to that class because the only person Hinata really knew, Neji Hyuga, was in the same class. As Hinata took her seat next to Neji, they waited patiently for their teacher to arrive. No matter what, you can always rely on Kakashi-sensei to be late for every class. After five minutes of chilling in class, Kakashi walks in through the door waving lazily to all his students.

"Good morning, Ladies and Idiots." said Kakashi smiling at the students after setting his stuff down on his desk at the front of the class room. All the girls laughed as all the guys sulked at Kakashi's playful insult. Kakashi wrote a few things on the board and then looked at a clipboard on his table. "Okay, roll call." said Kakashi over the sound of the constantly talking students. Everyone sounded off as their name was called and it wasn't long before Hinata and Neji both had to respond. At the very end of the list, Kakashi called out.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" asked Kakashi loudly. Everyone looked around and saw that only one desk which was right next to Hinata's wasn't filled with a student. Kakashi called again and then looked at the students.

"Is Naruto Uzumaki new here? Or does anyone know where his is?" asked Kakashi. Everyone looked at each other wondering who this new guy was. Just as Kakashi was about to count him absent, someone burst through the doorway of the class room and stopped dead center of the front of the class.

"I'm heeeeeeeeere!" yelled the guy in a loud husky voice. Kakashi looked up at him with some surprise and walked over to him.

"Oh, you must be the new student, Naruto Uzumaki." said Kakashi plainly. Naruto had a shock of blond hair, whisker marks on his cheeks and sky blue eyes as he gave a thumbs up to Kakashi.

"Yup! That's me! Sorry I'm late!" said Naruto standing up tall and rubbing the back of his head.

"Do you have a good excuse?" asked Kakashi putting his hands on his hips. Naruto chuckled and spoke.

"Yeah, um, would you believe me if I told you I had car trouble on the way here?" asked Naruto making a few people in the class respond in chuckles. Kakashi nodded and laughed a little on his own.

"Well, since it is your first day, I'll let this one time slide. If this happens again, you'll get a zero for the day." said Kakashi in a scary voice. Naruto nodded and shuttered at Kakashi's warning. "Well, we're glad to have you as a part to our school. Since you're new here, every new student must perform something on their first day that shows that they deserve to attend here. That includes you, Mr. Uzumaki. Hopefully, performing wouldn't be a problem?" asked Kakashi. Naruto shook his head and smirked as he pointed to the guitar slung on his back.

"Are you kidding? I came prepared!" he said. Kakashi nodded and provided Naruto with an amp from the class room closet. It was a Konoha tradition that everyone had to perform something then they first started at the school. A dance, a song, a different art, somebody had something they wanted to share and everyone was always amazing. Hinata however, being the sky and timid girl she is, didn't do well when it was turn to perform during her freshman year. She collapsed on the spot in front of everybody because the pressure was too much. Hinata was never really good in front of big crowds.

"Alright then. Tell a little about yourself and then give us a performance we won't forget!" said Kakashi as ke backed up to give Naruto some space. Naruto smiled at the entire class and began.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki! I have always wanted to go to this school to grow as a musician and to become well known all around the world as a famous rock star! All along the way, I promise to make a bunch of friends and have a wild ride while I'm here! All in all, I'm glad I'm finally here!" said Naruto with confidence.

"Alright, now your performance?" asked Kakashi. Naruto nodded and looked at a black electric guitar as he plugged it into the amp. Naruto held it awkwardly and then smiled at everyone.

"Okay, so uh, I haven't played in a while, so forgive me if I don't play very well." He said. Naruto began to awkwardly pluck out single notes and all-together, his playing was absolutely aweful! Even Hinata could tell. How in the heck did this guy make it into this school? After playing, Naruto looked up at everyone seeming disappointed in his performance. Kakashi was about to step in to stop him, but Naruto's look changed from embarrassed to cocky.

"Oh, I'm sorry guys! I was holding my guitar the wrong way! Let me try again!" said Naruto out loud. Everyone obviously thought the same thing. After trying to play on the guitar that one time, there was no way that playing the guitar the other way would be any different. For the most part, this Naruto guy was terrible!

But then he started playing, and everyone was blown away! His fingers began sliding all up and down the neck of the guitar in a flurry that was so fast that even Kakashi was having trouble keeping up with him. When he finished with a short introduction, Naruto smirked.

"That's more like it! That sounds MUCH better!" said Naruto. He actually began playing a song this time and after a short introduction with a few simple chords, Naruto began singing. (The following song is: Into The Night by: Santana)

_Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell,  
>It was love from above, that could save me from hell,<br>She had fire in her soul it was easy to see,  
>how the devil himself could be pulled out of me,<br>There were drums in the air as she started to dance,  
>Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands,<br>And we sang..._

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay,_  
><em>And the voices bang like the angels sing,<em>  
><em>We're singing...<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay,<em>  
><em>And we danced on into the night,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>And we danced on into the night,<em>

Naruto had captured everyone's attention; even Kakashi's who was astounded by his talent. Naruto seemed to really enjoy playing on the guitar and everything. All the girls in the class especially had their eyes on him as he continued to rock on.

_Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place,  
>You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces,<br>we was spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes,  
>The room left them moving between you and I,<br>We forgot where we were and we lost track of time,  
>And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night,<br>And we sang..._

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay,_  
><em>And the voices bang like the angels sing,<em>  
><em>We're singing...<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay,<em>  
><em>And we danced on into the night,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>And we danced on into the night,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>And we danced on into the night,<em>

As Naruto played, he traveled around the room singing to the girls that were watching him. The chord for the amp was very long, so Naruto had no problem navigating all around the room. He got up close and really interacted with the crowd as he sang and played. Then, when he was singing this one part, he got up and sat down on Hinata's desk as he played and sang to her for a short time. Hinata could feel herself blush as Naruto sang to her with eyes that sparkled like no other. Naruto looked like he was completely in tune with the song. When he finished singing to Hinata, he got up and headed back to Kakashi's desk in the front of the room and stood on top of it as he began to play the solo of the song. Sweat was flying from him as banged his head to the music and as he played vigorously with the music. He was a true performer!

_Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell,  
>It was love from above, that could save me from hell,<br>She had fire in her soul it was easy to see,  
>how the devil himself could be pulled out of me,<br>There were drums in the air as she started to dance,  
>Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands,<br>And we sang..._

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay,_  
><em>And the voices bang like the angels sing,<em>  
><em>We're singing...<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay,<em>  
><em>And we danced on into the night,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>Ay oh ay oh,<em>  
><em>And we danced on into the night!<em>

As Naruto finally finished his song, he stood on top of kakashi's desk finishing with a strong final chord. The sound echoed in the room as everyone was speechless from enduring such a powerful and amazing performance. Even Kakashi seemed amazed at Naruto's unexpected talent. Naruto scratched the back of his head to try and conceal his pride over his guitar and the song he just played. Towards the back of the class where Neji sat, Hinata looked at Naruto completely speechless. The song he played was amazing and his guitar skills were great when he hit that solo in the middle of the song. He was really amazing.

"Alright, that's enough. You can take that seat over there." said Kakashi pointing to his seat next to Hinata. Naruto nodded and unplugged his guitar and put it over to the side with everybody else's instruments. Returning to his assigned seat next to Hinata, he pulled out his notebook from his backpack and prepared to take notes for the class. As he sat down, Hinata could feel her face get hot. He stood out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else, and when he sang to her while he was playing, there was something about it that Hinata adored. He had an amazing voice that was beautiful, but at the same time, really hard core too.

In the middle of class, as they were taking a pop quiz that was so generously provided by Kakashi, Hinata watched as Naruto looked at all the questions and seemed to answer them without a hitch. This was a bit of a surprise to see him adjust so quickly. When the test was done and the first class of the day was just about finished, Kakashi collected the tests and began an announcement.

"So, since you are all here in my class, I'm guessing all of you are seniors." said Kakashi. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Well if you're all seniors, you know what that means! This year will be your final exam!" Everyone cheered at the sound of the idea, well everyone but Naruto who just groaned like it was a bad thing. Naruto leaned over to Hinata and whispiered.

"Hey, what's everyone getting so excited about? Don't tell me that everyone that goes to this school enjoys testing! I can't stand workaholics!" said Naruto. Hinata looked at him a little surprised by the sudden communication. Seeing this from the front of the room, Kakashi called to Naruto and caught his attention as he began to explain.

"Well since it seems our new classmate doesn't understand what I mean, I guess we'll just have to enlighten him. At KHSMA (Konoha High School of Music and Arts), the final test for all seniors is a large performance in front of the entire faculty, staff, and students. Other senior classes will be practicing as well as performing so that means all senior classes will be competing against us. The award for most outstanding performance will to the class that has the best performance. With this award, you will automatically be accepted into the greatest music al and arts college in the country: Elemental University of Music and Arts. Anything you want to learn about music, you can find at this college. The test requires hard work, perseverance, and a lot of talent. It can be presented in any way that you can think of. However, that doesn't mean that you have 100% creative control. In order to do something for a performance, you must receive approval from a teacher or the principle." said Kakashi. After the explanation, Naruto thrust a fist in the air and cheered with relief.

"Awesome! That means no written tests!" yelled Naruto. Kakashi sighed again and looked at Naruto.

"Sorry to crush your spirits, but we have those too… and they are VERY tricky…" he said. Naruto sulked at the unpleasant news as the bell rang and everyone got up from their seats to move to a different class. Hinata watched as Naruto left the room and turned to Neji who was still packing up his things.

"Well today's class was relatively interesting, don't you think? That Naruto guy sure is talented." said Neji. Hinata nodded vaguely, not really paying attention to his question. Neji looked at her while she was caught within her trance and smiled at her.

"So, I think you should get to know him." said Neji. Hinata looked at him in shock and suddenly started blushing even more.

"W-What!" asked Hinata. "H-How could y-you suggest something l-like that!" Neji looked at her with firm eyes and made sure her attention was focused on him.

"Hinata, you and I are very close. Instead of cousins, you are practically my sister. I am concerned for your well-being. You don't talk to anyone in this school except for me or the teachers. I think it's time you start making some friends of your own." said Neji.

"W-What! B-But I can't! What if father finds out? You know his conditions for allowing us to come to school here…"

"His rules don't say anything about making friends. Besides, getting out there would be good for you." said Neji.

"B-But, why with him?" asked Hinata.

"Two reasons. One, you already go to this school so you have to be helpful to him on some kind of level. And two, he doesn't know anyone else at school either; the same as you." said Neji leaning in closer with a devilish grin. "Not to mention that if you get lucky, he might become your very first boyfriend." Hinata's face turned red instantly and she could feel her face get hot and light.

"Ne-ne-ne-Neji! D-Don't say s-s-such things!" said Hinata lightly hitting Neji. Neji couldn't help but laugh and smiled at Hinata's innocence.

"C'mon, we need to leave anyways." said Neji. Hinata nodded and followed him out the door. But Neji was right, she needed to make some friends.


	2. Chapter 2

Peacemaker01: Okay guys, so just to let you know; this is a really long chapter. I mean, its a REALLY long chapter... and in some places it was hard to write... but I think everything worked out nicely! I hope you enjoy it! ;D

Chapter 2  
>Making Friends<p>

School was over for the day and Hinata left it behind giving a heavy sigh as she went to go meet up with Neji. The whole day was full of stuttering and getting nervous as Hinata, though she was bad at it, desperately tried in vain to make friends. This one time during group work in history, she was paired with a girl that she had never seen before and tried talking to her, but nothing came out except for strange stuttering sounds and mumbles. The girl she was talking to looked like she was about ready to go crazy due to Hinata's inability to speak in clear sentences. After that, Hinata tried not to speak to anyone else for the rest of the day except for teachers. Neji finally left the school building, and headed over to Hinata as she waited for him by his car that was parked in the parking lot. Upon his arrival, Hinata couldn't help the pathetic and helpless look that was plastered on her face.

"Hey Hinata. How were things with you today? You make any friends?" asked Neji. Despite the look on her face, Neji still wanted to ask just to see how she would react.

"W-Well… I tried…" said Hinata. Neji sighed and smiled at her as he moved to get in the car. Hinata sat in the passenger seat as Neji turned the key as the car came to life.

"Its fine, Hinata. I had a feeling that you would have trouble on your own." said Neji. Hinata couldn't help but feel even more pathetic as Neji said this. Was she really that pathetic and typical? It really was depressing knowing that you were as easy to read as an open book.

"I'm sorry, Neji." said Hinata as she sat in the passenger seat. Neji gave her a thumbs up.

"There's no need to apologize. You gave it your best try. Besides, I have a plan." said Neji. Hinata looked at him with widened eyes that held joy, but mostly fear as she thought about what kind of scheme he had in store.

"Y-You do?" Hinata was almost afraid to ask what it was. "W-What is it?"

"You should come to work with me tonight! I can introduce you to the people that I work with! Hopefully you will make friends with them." said Neji. Hinata looked at him with a half-smile and nodded. Neji worked at a store that sold clothes and stuff at the mall. She had never seen him work before, let alone been out on a school night. Since this was work related though, Hinata's father would gladly allow her to go. Hinata smiled at the thought of having a little bit more freedom on a regular school night.

When Hinata arrived home, Neji was the first to enter into her father's study. During the rest of the day, Hiashi spent the majority of his time signing papers or answering the phone about business calls. He worked at home because he concentrated better in his study, but he ran five businesses at once every day. That was one of the reasons why Hinata practically lived in a mansion in the middle of the city. Neji entered in and waited for Hiashi to finish with a call before receiving an audience with him. When he finished, he looked at Hinata and Neji with a strict smile and nodded.

"Hello you two how was your first day at school?" said Hiashi. Neji smiled and nodded.

"School is very interesting this year. Classes are much more difficult as well as lively. The teachers also seem more interactive than last year too. However, they have given more homework this year than last year, so that is the only downside this time." said Neji. Hinata only wished that she could speak to her father so calmly and naturally like Neji did. She would have been a lot closer to him if she could.

"I see. Surely that won't be a problem?" asked Hiashi as he intertwined his fingers in an intimidating and professional look.

"Not at all." said Neji confidently. Hiashi nodded and moved around in his desk to grab some more papers for him to read and sign.

"Good. Good." said Hiashi while he fixed his glasses as they hung at the tip of his nose. Neji looked at Hinata, nodded at her, and then turned back to Hiashi.

"Hiashi." said Neji. Hiashi looked up from his papers and at Neji with a stern look. "I thought it would be a good opportunity for Hinata to improve her business and social skills if she accompanied me at work this evening. Do you think it would be alright if she came along?" asked Neji. Hiashi removed his glasses, sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

"Why this all of a sudden? She hasn't gone with you before." said Hiashi. Neji put a hand on Hinata's shoulder and brought her forward a bit so that she was standing right beside Neji.

"I've noticed that Hinata's skills in those areas are lacking due to how I've viewed her at school as well as at home. I think that this will be good for her." said Neji. Hiashi rubbed his chin as he thought over about this and nodded when he finished.

"Very well then. I agree with your idea. Hinata may go, but only if she starts homework the second she gets home." said Hiashi. Neji nodded and left the room with Hinata following closely behind him. It was time for them to get ready for the night.

Neji parked in one of the employee spots of the parking lot and got out of the car to open the door for Hinata. She stepped out and looked around seeming confused about where they were.

"N-Neji… this isn't the mall… and you don't look like you're dressed for work…" said Hinata. Neji was wearing a black t-shirt under a white button up shirt and was wearing black long pants with black and white converse shoes. Neji gave her a smile and led her away from a car and to a building that was called "The Ninja Hideout". It was a club for all ages, but mostly meant for adults.

"Trust me, I am. Look, just follow me." said Neji. He didn't go in through the front door, but instead made his way around to the back door where a really big guy stood with his arms crossed. As they approached, Neji whispered to Hinata. "Just follow my lead." Neji went up to the guy as he answered in a casual voice.

"I.D.?" asked guy that guarded the door. Neji flashed his I.D. and then another tag that Hinata had never seen before. The guy looked at it, his eyes widened and moved aside for Neji to enter. "Sorry Mr. Hyuga. It's standard procedure. Who is she?" asked the big guy who nodded at Hinata as he said this.

"This is my cousin, Hinata Hyuga. She is under the same kind of… "protection" that I'm under too." said Neji. The big guy nodded and allowed Hinata to go inside with him. When they entered, the beat of the loud bass was the first thing to strike Hinata. This atmosphere was different compared to anything that she had experienced before and it made her shutter with shock. When Hinata went farther inside, she saw lasers shine through the smoke and strobe lights flash as dancing bodies moved rhythmically with the music that played. This place was a real club that Hinata had never been to before and it was a real treat for her to experience this. Neji and Hinata made it through the large crowd of people and headed passed the large stage where a DJ was jamming to the music he was playing. Behind the stage, a guy about Hinata's age with raven black hair and dark eyes gave a casual smile to Neji as he approached.

"Hey Sasuke." said Neji as he came up to him. Sasuke smiled and clasped hands with Neji as a way to welcome him.

"Glad you made it, Neji. We have seven minutes until the show starts." said Sasuke. Neji nodded and pulled Hinata closer for her to meet his friend.

"Who's this?" asked Sasuke looking at Hinata.

"This is my cousin, Hinata Hyuga. I asked you earlier if she could come tonight." said Neji. Sasuke smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.

"The more the merrier. C'mon, I'll introduce you to the rest of the guys!" said Sasuke. He led Hinata and Neji down the way to where the others were setting up. Hinata wasn't sure about meeting Sasuke. He seemed a little dark to her, but he didn't seem like a bad person exactly. Sasuke walked along the path and went to the very back of the stage where everyone else was. As they arrived, Hinata was shocked to see who was here tonight. A lot of the people she saw were from her school though she had never talked to any of them before. But among all of them, she was most surprised to see the blond hair and blue eyes of Naruto Uzumaki with them. He was tuning his guitar and talking to one of the others to help pass the time.

"N-Neji, w-what is this… exactly?" asked Hinata. Neji looked at her and gave her a big smile, which was usually rare coming from Neji.

"Well from an obvious stand-point, I don't work at that clothes store that I told you and Hiashi about. My job is playing in Sasuke's band as his bassist every night at this place." said Neji. Hinata gasped and looked all around at the people behind the stage.

"B-But why would you bring me here? I-I mean… what if my father finds out?" asked Hinata.

"Trust me, Hiashi would never come down here. And as long as I keep it a secret, he won't find out. You promise not to tell?" asked Neji. Hinata sighed and nodded.

"E-Even if I was going to, I would get in trouble too…" said Hinata. Neji chuckled and put a hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Okay then. I'll introduce you to everyone." said Neji as he dragged Hinata along with him. As he approached, all the others came over to greet him.

"Damn Neji, I was scared that you weren't gonna show up!" said a guy with brown spikey hair with a beast's eyes.

"Sorry, Kiba. I wanted to bring someone along." said Neji pulling Hinata forward a bit to introduce her. "This is my cousin, Hinata Hyuga." Kiba looked at her up and down and smiled at her.

"Glad to meet you! I'm Kiba Inuzuka; drummer extraordinaire." said Kiba. Hinata smiled awkwardly at Kiba and shook his hand meekly. Naruto came up behind Kiba and smiled at Neji looking pumped.

"Hey Neji! Great to see ya again!" said Naruto cheerfully. He turned to look at Hinata as his eyes snapped open wider. "Wait a second! You were in English with me this morning, weren't you? I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet ya!"

"Would you cut it out! I don't understand how you're so straight-forward all the time." said Kiba. Naruto shrugged it off, making sure to focus his attention on Hinata. Hinata's face was hot from embarrassment as she was introduced to so many new people in just a day. Hinata shook Naruto's hand shakily and continued her awkward smile at him. After the introductions, a guy in a black t-shirt came out with a headset on from behind a curtain and shouted to the band.

"Light In The Dark! You're on in five!" he yelled and disappeared behind the curtain again. Naruto and Kiba left Hinata to go and attend to their instruments and to get ready for the show. Neji looked at Hinata and smiled at her as he prepared his bass.

"Listen Hinata, right in the front of the stage, there will be a few tables full of other people. Those tables are meant for our fans and friends. You should go sit with them and I hope you enjoy the show!" said Neji. Hinata nodded slowly and left Neji to attend to his Instrument. Once again, Hinata dove into the crowd of dancing people and moved through it in an effort to meet up with who Neji spoke of. Finally after reaching the stage, Hinata looked around for the tables, but was finding it difficult because of all the people dancing. When all hope seemed lost, a girl with pink hair and emerald green eyes stood up from afar and waved so Hinata could see. Hinata went in her direction and as she met with her, she was surprised to see that it was another person from her school. Not just any person though, it was Sakura Haruno. She was by far one of the prettiest girls in the entire school and also one of the smartest. She was grade A popular according to what Hinata knew about.

"Hey, you must be Hinata Hyuga! Neji told me that you might get lost, so I'm glad I was able to tell it was you!" said Sakura. That was just like Neji, Hinata thought. He always had a way of seeing things, almost like he had a 360 degree vision of something… ;)

"Y-Yeah. I-It's n-nice to m-meet you…" said Hinata as she took a seat. Hinata could hardly believe it herself that she was sitting next to probably THE most popular girl in the entire school, and that they were about to see a performance together.

"So, I haven't seen you around school a whole lot. Neji says you go there, but I constantly try to look around for you. Are you sure we go to the same school?" asked Sakura jokingly. Hinata laughed nervously and nodded a little.

"Y-Yeah… I go to th-the same school. I-I just… I'm just a l-little shy so… I don't stand out much. W-We actually have physics together…" said Hinata. Sakura looked at her almost clueless and then snapped her eyes open wide.

"Oh right! I remember now! You are in my class! I'm sorry for not recognizing you earlier!" said Sakura. Hinata smiled a little and nodded.

"I-It's okay!" she said. The music suddenly stopped as the crowd cheered super loud when the DJ came out to the center of the stage to greet the crowd.

"Yo guys! How are ya'll tonight!" he yelled loudly into a microphone making the whole room shudder. Everyone screamed louder as Hinata just sat and watched the scene. "Awright awright! It is a great honor and pleasure of mine, to introduce to the stage, the band that everyone will one day know! I give you guys: Light In The Dark!" he yelled. The crowd was full of an energy that Hinata had never felt before and screamed even louder as the curtain rose and revealed Neji, Sasuke, Kiba, and Naruto all looking ready to start playing. When they were given the okay, Sasuke stood at the microphone that was set up and start jamming out with a bunch of heavy and loud guitar chords. Kiba pounded away at his drums and Neji plucked at his bass lines while Naruto strummed along with Sasuke in perfect sync. The two guitar lines just made things even louder as Sasuke began singing in a loud scratchy voice. (This song is: Stricken by: Disturbed.)

_You walk on like a woman in suffering  
>Won't even bother now to tell me why<br>You come alone, letting all of us savor the moment  
>Leaving me broken another time<br>You come on like a bloodstained hurricane  
>Leave me alone, let me be this time<br>You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption  
>I don't want to mention, the reason I know<em>

_That I am stricken and can't let you go_  
><em>When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know<em>  
><em>That I am crippled by all that you've done<em>  
><em>Into the abyss will I run<em>

As they played on with the song, Naruto made sure to keep the crowd pumped and ready for more as he was the one that had the most energy out of all the people that were playing. He had a certain look and feel about him that kept the crowd interested as he played on. Sasuke smiled at him as he was singing and playing and decided to try and up his game too. There was no way that Naruto was going to upstage him. Sasuke played louder and harder as the show continued on.

_You don't know what your power has done to me  
>I want to know if I'll heal inside<br>I can't go on with a holocaust about to happen  
>Seeing you laughing another time<br>You'll never know why your face has haunted me  
>My very soul has to bleed this time<br>Another hole in the wall of my inner defenses  
>Leaving me breathless, the reason I know<em>

_That I am stricken and can't let you go_  
><em>When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know<em>  
><em>That I am crippled by all that you've done<em>  
><em>Into the abyss will I run<em>

_Into the abyss will I run_

Naruto noticed Sasuke trying to outdo him in the struggle for dominance over the crowd, so his moment finally came when he started playing the solo. Naruto got down on his knees and into the classic rocker stance as he played the notes with his fingers moving in a blur that was hard to read for even a professional. Sasuke saw this and took it on as a challenge and continued to try and rock even harder by strumming on his guitar even harder.

_You walk on like a woman in suffering  
>Won't even bother now to tell me why<br>You come alone, letting all of us savor the moment  
>Leaving me broken another time<br>You come on like a bloodstained hurricane  
>Leave me alone, let me be this time<br>You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption  
>I don't want to mention, the reason I know<em>

_That I am stricken and can't let you go_  
><em>When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know<em>  
><em>That I am crippled by all that you've done<em>  
><em>Into the abyss will I run<em>

_Into the abyss will I run_  
><em>I can't let you go<em>  
><em>Yes I am stricken and can't let you go<em>

Sasuke and Naruto ended up back to back at the end of the song with a long finishing chord. Hinata didn't think the crowd would ever stop cheering once the song was finished. It was an outstanding performance and the entire band got up from their places and bowed for the crowd. Hinata couldn't believe how great the show was and how much she enjoyed the hard rock music! It was brand new to her and she realized how much she really loved it while the show went on. The sound of the cloud chords that rocked her to her core was something that she was never going to forget. The performance was really great and Hinata couldn't help but feel privileged to be a part of it. The show ended at eight and Hinata went backstage to go congratulate Neji on his performance. Making her way back, she ran into Naruto who was sweaty and smiling at her as she approached.

"Hey Hinata! What did you think?" asked Naruto. Hinata stopped in her tracks as her face turned red again. She couldn't understand why she felt so nervous around Naruto, and why her speech always seemed worse.

"O-Oh! N-Naruto!" said Hinata sounding shocked. Naruto looked at her questioningly.

"You okay?" he asked. Hinata nodded and looked away a bit.

"Y-Yeah I'm f-fine!" she said. Naruto shrugged it off and continued to smile at her.

"Alright. So, did you like the show?" asked Naruto. Hinata perked up a bit and nodded greatly.

"Y-Yes! I-I loved it! I-I have never h-heard that kind of music before, a-and I loved it a lot! Y-You did very well! T-Thank you for letting me s-see your show!" said Hinata. Naruto smiled at her and rubbed the back of his head seeming a little embarrassed.

"Wow! You liked it that much? That's good! Although, I never would have pegged you to be the hard rocker kind of girl, but I guess you never really know a person, huh?" asked Naruto. Hinata nodded a little and smiled a bit more at Naruto. He was nicer than he seemed.

"S-So um… w-where's N-Neji?" she asked. Naruto pointed behind him towards the stage.

"He's still in the back finishing up." said Naruto. Hinata nodded and smiled as she went past him. Right before she was about to disappear, Naruto called out to her. "Oh yeah, are ya coming to celebrate with us?" Hinata looked back seeming confused at the question.

"C-Celebrate what?" asked Hinata. Naruto came up to her to explain.

"Every time we have a great show, everybody heads over to Ichiraku's to celebrate! You're gonna come, aren't you?" asked Naruto. Hinata's face turned red again and she nodded slowly. Naruto smiled at her answer and got ready to leave. "Cool! Looking forward to seeing you then!" said Naruto as he waved good bye while walking away and heading out of the entrance. Hinata went to go meet up with Neji as he finished loading up a truck behind the building. When she arrived, Sasuke and Kiba came up to her both with smiles on their faces.

"So Hinata, what did you think?" asked Sasuke. Hinata smiled at both of them and gave them a timid thumbs up.

"I-I loved it! Y-you guys were really great!" she said. Kiba and Sasuke high-fived and looked back at Hinata.

"You're not lying to us are you?" asked Kiba suspiciously. Hinata could feel herself start to panic.

"W-What!" said Hinata sounding confused. Kiba and Sasuke laughed a bit before answering her.

"We were just kidding you, Hinata. Damn, there's no need to be so high-strung! We're glad you liked it!" said Kiba throwing an arm over Hinata's shoulder. She didn't exactly feel uncomfortable, but she didn't like it either when Kiba tried to get so close to her.

"Since you came once, it would mean a lot if you could keep coming." said Sasuke. Hinata looked at him with a smiled and then at Neji who was coming over to join them.

"S-Sure! If Neji can continue to take me." said Hinata. Neji smiled at her as he came up to his friends and threw both of his arms around his friend's shoulders.

"Well guys, let's get going to Ichiraku's. Knowing Naruto, He's probably already on his way there." said Neji as he looked to Hinata. "Unless you would rather go home first?"

"N-No!" said Hinata loudly. "I-I already talked to Naruto about going and I said I would… s-so I can't let him down." Neji couldn't help but smile at Hinata's sudden growth of character.

"Alright then. Hey, why don't you ride with these guys? I gotta take care of a few more things here, but I'll catch up. You okay with that Hinata?" asked Neji. It was a very rare opportunity when Neji would back Hinata into a corner like this. She HAD to say yes to riding with them, not that she was complaining at all.

"Sure! I-It would be nice." said Hinata. Neji smiled and went back inside to talk to a few people as Sasuke and Kiba got in the front of the van while Hinata hopped in the back. Sasuke got in the driver's seat and started the car.

"Hey, maybe I wanted to drive!" said Kiba. Sasuke looked at him like he had a death-wish and refocused on getting his car started.

"No way in hell. You make one mistake with Kevin and I might just have to kill you." said Sasuke as he drove along the road and started heading to Ichiraku's.

"You named this piece-of-crap van Kevin?" asked Kiba. Sasuke nodded and laughed.

"Say it's a piece of crap again and I swear that you'll die tonight!" said Sasuke jokingly. Hinata took it back what she thought about Sasuke earlier. He was scarier than he looked! She couldn't tell if he was serious or if he was just joking and it worried her a bit. Kiba looked back at Hinata and then back at Sasuke with a worried expression.

"We might wanna be careful, Sasuke. I think we might be scaring Hinata a bit!" said Kiba. Sasuke looked in the rear-view mirror at Hinata and laughed a bit at the expression on her face.

"Sorry Hinata! This is just us messing around sometimes! Don't worry, I'm not seriously going to kill him. After all, I need Kiba to be drummer, and he can't do that if he's dead." said Sasuke. Hinata felt herself loosen up some and smiled at Sasuke timidly. It only took about five minutes to make it to Ichiraku's where Naruto was waiting outside for them to show up. When they got out of the van, Hinata followed behind them up to Ichiraku's Ramen shop and met with Naruto who seemed a little annoyed.

"Hey, what's with the face?" asked Sasuke to Naruto. Naruto looked inside and then made a pouting face.

"I was waiting for you guys! What took so long?" asked Naruto. Sasuke and Kiba pointed back to Hinata as she hid behind them from feeling a bit shy.

"You see, we decided to drive Hinata here with us, so we had to take a little bit longer to get here. Sorry." said Kiba. Sasuke nodded and pulled Hinata in front of him and made sure Naruto understood. He sighed and shrugged it off.

"Well at least you guys showed up! C'mon, everybody else is waiting." said Naruto opening the door for everyone to enter inside. Near the back in one of the corners there were three tables that were all filled with a whole bunch of other people; including Sakura Haruno from before. Sasuke approached everyone with a smile and gave a casual wave.

"Hey, guys." said Sasuke as he took an open seat next to a blond haired girl with a pony tail. The girl looked at him seeming a little irritated and Sasuke looked at her nonchalantly. "What's wrong with you?" asked Sasuke. The girl whipped her head away from him, still acting to be angry with him.

"It took you long enough, we waited here for you for a while!" said the girl as Sasuke sighed and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"I'm sorry! But I am in the band after all, so of course things are going to run a bit more slowly for me. C'mon Ino, don't be like this." said Sasuke. The girl, Ino looked at Sasuke with a half-mad, half-entertained look that quickly turned to a positive expression.

"It's okay. So long as you show up at all, I guess." She said as she grabbed on to Sasuke's arm and snuggled with it. Sasuke blushed and looked away seeming embarrassed from the intimate contact. Everybody took their seats while Hinata sat by Sakura at one of the tables. After everyone ordered drinks, Sasuke lifted his glass to everyone and proclaimed aloud.

"This is to Light in the Dark for putting on a once again fantastic show!" said Sasuke. Everyone rose their glasses along with him and shouted: "Here here!" Hinata wasn't sure about how to handle the situation but she tried to go along with what everyone else was doing. After the toast, Neji finally came in and headed over to the Hinata's table.

"Hey! Neji finally arrived!" said Naruto. Neji smiled upon appearance and took a seat next to Hinata and a girl with her hair wrapped up into two pom-poms.

"Hey Neji!" said the girl with a charming smile as Neji sat down. He smiled back and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey Tenten." said Neji as he looked at Hinata while Tenten followed his gaze. "Everyone, this is my cousin, Hinata Hyuga. She just came to her first show tonight!" he said aloud. Hinata blushed a bit as all eyes were suddenly on her. Everyone seemed really odd to Hinata, but a second later they all smiled at her with a genuine and sudden acceptance.

"Oh, so you're Hinata! Neji has told me a lot about you!" said Tenten. Neji smiled and snuggled closer to Tenten as others tried to introduce themselves.

"Glad to have you join us! I'm Choji Akamichi!" said a fat guy with red swirls on his cheeks. The guy next to him wore his hair in a pony-tail and had large bags under his eyes.

"I'm Shikamaru Nara. Nice to meet you." he said tastelessly.

"Hey, can you at least act like you have some life in you when you're introducing yourself?" said a girl with blond hair tied up into for separate short pony-tails. Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Geez, Temari. Cut a guy a break why don't ya?" Shikamaru complained. Temari sighed and looked to Hinata.

"Sorry, you'll have to forgive him. I'm Temari." she said with a smile. Hinata smiled back and looked at the guy sitting next to her.

"My sister: the scary dragon lady!" he said with a laugh afterwards. Temari scowled at the retort and looked at him with an irritated expression.

"Tell me, Kankuro. Why is it that' you're and idiot too?" she said playfully. Kankuro sighed and looked at Hinata.

"Look, you'll be better off if you can try to avoid my sister. I'm Kankuro, her older brother." He said.

"You two need to learn not to fight so much when introducing yourself to someone new." said a kid with black eye-liner and red hair.

"Yeah right, Gaara. Says the kid that has temper issues that are almost worse than Naruto's!" said Kankuro. Gaara gave him a death glare as Kankuro backed off some and turned back to Temari.

"Just ignore them. I'm Gaara. It's a pleasure to meet you." said Gaara. Hinata tried to smile, but couldn't help but feel a little nervous around him. A guy with a black bowl-cut leaned over one of the tables and got up close and personal to Hinata and flashed his 'nice guy' smile.

"My name is Rock Lee! It is great that you have decided to join us this evening!" he said loud and clear. Hinata smiled timidly at him and nodded.

"Th-thank you very much…" said Hinata quietly.

"Wow… So she does speak…" said a shady looking guy wearing dark circular sunglasses.

"I was getting worried myself. She hasn't said a word since she arrived here." said another guy with a plain black hair-cut wearing a shirt that said: paint to express.

"S-So… what are y-your names…?" asked Hinata. The shady guy went first.

"I'm Shino Aburame… nice to meet you… Hinata was it?" he asked. Hinata nodded and tried to draw herself in a bit. Besides Gaara, this guy was by far the creepiest.

"And I am Sai." said the good looking guy with plain black hair. Hinata looked all around her at the people she had just met and smiled greatly.

"Alright! I can't wait for next week!" yelled Naruto to Sasuke. Everyone turned their attention to their conversation. Sasuke thought about it for a second and then responded.

"Says the guy that just started playing with us today." said Sasuke. Naruto made a frowny face and then whipped his head away. Hinata looked to Sasuke and gathered some courage to ask a question.

"Um… Sasuke?" asked Hinata quietly. Sasuke looked at her and nodded.

"What's up?" he said.

"I-If Naruto j-just started here today… h-how was he able to play in y-your band already?" asked Hinata. Sasuke smiled and pointed to Neji.

"News travels fast in school if you have the right connections. But the one you should really ask is Neji." he said. Hinata looked at Neji and waited for him to tell his story.

"This morning after Kakashi's class, I had the another class with Naruto again so I was able to talk him into joining our band." said Neji.

"Wow…" said Hinata.

"Great talent like what Naruto's got is hard to come by at our school! There are lots of bands and stuff, so we were lucky to have gotten to him first before he became really famous at school." said Sasuke after taking a sip of his drink. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled.

"Me famous? Yeah right!" said Naruto as he tried to conceal his pride in his own abilities.

"Look, I'm serious here man. These people would be after you in a second if they knew how good you were. Just be lucky that you have us now." said Sasuke. Sakura leaned forward and put her elbows on the table as her hands supported her head.

"Wow Naruto! It must be great to be wanted by so many people! Not to mention how awesome you are at guitar and singing! You're really amazing!" said Sakura. Naruto blushed even more and smiled at Sakura.

"Thanks Sakura! I am pretty awesome, aren't I?" asked Naruto. Both of them laughed at the stupid comment, but Hinata couldn't help but feel her heart sink a bit from the interaction between them.

"Yeah. Awesome at being a total idiot!" said Kiba jokingly. Naruto and Kiba once again were about to enter into their "stare-until-one-of-us-gives-up" fights again.

"Isn't it great guys!" yelled Lee to everyone. All of them looked to Lee like he was crazy when Shikamaru spoke.

"What's so great about these two staring at each other? It's kinda creepy actually…" said Shikamaru. Lee shook his head from side to side at the misunderstanding.

"No not that!" he said. Gaara then looked at Lee seeming a little confused.

"Then… what are you talking about?" asked Gaara sounding interested. Lee took a sip from his drink and began to make his point.

"I'm saying that isn't it great that we're all here? I mean it wasn't all that long ago that we were total strangers. Now look at us! Here we are laughing together and talking together at a place where we can call each other friend! Not to mention that having Hinata added to the mix is also a great addition to our group as well!" said Lee. Everyone was silent for a second when Shino was the one to break the silence.

"That was… sappy…" said Shino. Everyone laughed at Lee's comment as Lee sulked about. Naruto nodded and smiled at Hinata as she watched over everyone at the tables.

"But you know, guys. It is pretty great that Hinata's here with us!" said Naruto. Hinata looked at Naruto with surprise and smiled at the kind comment. Sasuke nodded as everyone looked at Naruto and then at Hinata.

"I guess even this idiot is right sometimes." said Sasuke. Naruto sulked at the retort and continued to listen to Sasuke as he looked at Hinata with a smile. "Like it or not, Hinata. You're one of us now!" he said. Hinata was suddenly blown over by a wave of surprise as this remark hit her. Every one of them was special and all of them were incredibly nice to her after just meeting her. It was great that Hinata had chosen to go with Neji tonight. Right before her, Hinata finally had real friends.

Peacemaker01: Damn... I'm sorry. I said it was long... but that was TOO LONG! DX But I do have my reasons though! I had a very specific vision of how I wanted this to play out and if it was going to work the way i wanted it to... it needed to be this long. Anyways I'll stop now. You guys are probably tired of reading now... or something like that... REVIEW PLEEEEEEEASE! ;D


	3. Chapter 3

Whew! Its been awhile! I hope I still have some readers that will be more than happy to continue with this! Thanks guys! I hope you enjoy! ^^

Chapter 3  
>Conquering Your Fears<p>

Hinata's feelings about the day were a mixed bag. She had walked into her morning class and sat in her usual seat expecting it to be like any other day. Hinata wasn't certain whether yesterday actually happened, so she went about her usual routine and prepared herself for class.

"Hey, what are ya doing over here?" asked a husky voice. Hinata looked up seeming surprised at Naruto's appearance and at his genuine smile.

"W-What do you m-mean?" asked Hinata.

"Come sit with us! We're all over there!" said Naruto nodding his head in the direction of where everyone was hanging out in the back of the room.

"A-Are you sure?" asked Hinata still sounding a bit timid. Naruto sighed and reached for Hinata's hand.

"Of course we're sure! It's not the same unless we have you!" said Naruto as he pulled Hinata along with him. She couldn't help but blush as she followed him without a single complaint. When they had joined up with everyone, they sat down and joined the conversation.

"Geez, Hinata! We were worried you were gonna leave us!" said Sakura jokingly. Hinata giggled and sat down to join the rest of the group. In her English class in the morning, the group comprised of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sai. Everybody else were in different classes in the morning, so it was just them. Sasuke looked around the room and then turned to Hinata.

"Hey, isn't here yet. You know where he is?" asked Sasuke. Now that he mentioned it, Hinata didn't know the answer to that herself. Neji was usually the first one in class with her and if not, he was never even close to being late. This was strange.

"I-I'm not sure…" said Hinata shrugging. Just as she had finished, Neji walked in with Tenten following close behind him. Naruto ushered Neji and Tenten over to their group and sat down in the two seats that were provided for them.

"Good morning, everyone." said Neji sounding strangely out of character. He seemed happier than usual.

"So, where were you?" asked Sasuke. Neji and Tenten looked at eachother, and Tenten answered.

"I was having car trouble, so I asked Neji to help me out. It took longer than we thought, but looks like we made it just in time." said Tenten. Everyone looked at eachother and smiled at the two of them suspiciously except for Hinata.

"_Yeah right…"_ thought everybody at once. _"Like hell there was any real 'car trouble'."_

"Neji! I need your help!" said Naruto putting his hands together like he was about to pray.

"What's wrong?" asked Neji sounding a bit concerned.

"It's only the second day of school, and Kakashi has already issued a test for tomorrow! I don't know any of the material, so I'm in deep trouble! You're smart so you gotta help me!" he pleaded. Neji looked to Hinata, smiled deviously, and looked back at Naruto.

"Unfortunately, I don't know any of the material either. Hinata on the other hand knows everything about this class and is way smarter than me. We were actually planning on studying together at our house tonight, so you can join us if you would like." said Neji. Hinata's jaw dropped to the floor at the offer given to was about to say something to counteract the invitation, but Naruto had immediately caught her attention right afterwards.

"Will you help me Hinata? C'mon! I need this!" he begged to her. The moment he spoke to her, any opposition Hinata had possessed a second before had vanished instantly.

"W-Well… okay." She said. Naruto thrust a fist into the air and shouted with joy.

"Yeah! Thanks Hinata! I won't let you down!" said Naruto ecstatically. She didn't know what it was about him that made Hinata just give in, but she was glad that she was going to at least help him out.

"Great. Meet up at our car at the end of the day in the parking lot." said Neji. Naruto nodded and smiled at Hinata. The door to the classroom opened and Kakashi stepped through to reveal himself holding a few textbooks under one arm.

"Alright kiddies! Let's get to work!" he proclaimed as he began his lesson.

Hinata couldn't but help feel a bit of regret as she thought about giving Naruto consent to come over to their house to study. She was afraid of how her father would take it when he found out what kind of person Naruto actually was. It was too late to turn back now, however. Neji and Hinata sat up front while Naruto chilled in the back of the car.

"Man this ride is great! Is it all yours Neji?" asked Naruto. Neji nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"It sure is. It was a gift from Hinata's father since I have been looking out for Hinata all through highschool." said looked at Hinata with a smile and leaned closer to them.

"So Hinata, do you have a car too?" asked Naruto. Hinata shook her head and twiddled her fingers as she spoke.

"N-No… My father would rather have it that Neji drive me to where I need to go instead of driving on my own. H-He says it's really dangerous." said Hinata sadly. Naruto looked at Neji who didn't show any sign of sadness like Hinata had. Once the conversation was over, Naruto looked out his right window and saw the gigantic mansion that Hinata and Neji lived in. A very big and beautiful house with a black roof and large pillars that stood right outside the front door was at the end of a very long drive way. (imagine the white house, sort of) After pulling up and parking with the rest of the cars in the area, Naruto and the others got out of the car and went in through the front entrance. After entering through the extremely large white door, Naruto could hardly keep his mouth shut as he marveled at the majesty of the house. It was nice and clean with expensive furniture and a giant crystal chandelier that hung overhead of the entrance.

"Damn! Your house is awesome!" yelled Naruto aloud. Neji almost gave him a death-glare as Naruto immediately shut up.

"Naruto!" whispered Neji. "Hiashi works at home all day! Don't make so much noise or you'll piss him off!" Naruto looked at Hinata who seemed as white as a sheet in response to Naruto's loud behavior.

"Sorry guys!" said Naruto rubbing the back of his head. After a long sigh, Neji and the others began to head up the stairs when they heard a door creak open. Down the hall came a tall man with thick long black hair and pale lavender eyes with a very strict aura about him.

"Hinata!Neji! Who is here with you?" asked Hiashi in a very plain but powerful voice.

"Oh, uh… just a friend from school." said Hinata aloud. She could feel it coming; the long talk about how school is a place for learning, and not for friends. Hiashi came to the stairs and looked glaringly at Naruto and then at Neji with a softer expression.

"I see. What's your name?" asked Hiashi. Naruto stuttered his name from utter fear.

"N-N-N-Naruto U-U-Uzamaki… Sir!" said Naruto trying to retain his fear in front of Hiashi while at the same time trying to be formal with his speech. Hiashi looked at him awkwardly and sighed.

"My name is HiashiHyuga. What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously. Neji stepped forward to save Naruto from Hiashi's intimidating composure.

"Naruto is here to study with us. We have a big test tomorrow and he needs a lot of help." said Neji. Hiashi looked at Naruto again and nodded at Neji.

"Fine, I'll allow this only once. But tell him to keep quiet. He already disturbed my work…" said Hiashi as he grumbled and headed back to his work office down stairs. Neji, Hinata, and Naruto let out a long sigh in unison and headed up stairs to Hinata's room.

"W-Wait, so… why are we going into my room?" asked Hinata. Neji shrugged and smiled as Hinata led the way into her room.

"My room is messy enough as it is. Since you're always so keen to keeping a clean room, I thought it would be better if we used your room instead." said Neji. Hinata sighed as Naruto and Neji entered ahead of her with Naruto looking around once again in awe of the room. It was a very clean white carpet on the floor with lavender colored walls with a few posters up and a computer with a desk and a wheelie chair. There was a large bed with purple covers and white pillows, and a door leading to Hinata's own separate bathroom.

"Woah!Hinata, you sure are living large!" Naruto exclaimed. Hinata shrugged a bit and walked in to set her stuff down on her bed and then headed straight for her computer.

"I-I write my notes down and then re-write them on my computer to help me study. S-So, I'll just print them off for us to look through them." said Hinata. Once the notes were printed, Naruto and Neji looked them over and they both looked to Hinata.

"Still don't get it!" they both said in unison. Hinata sighed and sat down on the floor with them.

"Alright, then let's get to work." she said while picking up her pencil and began to study with Naruto and Neji.

"Neji! You still up there? I need your help with something!" said Hiashi aloud. It was around seven when Hiashi called from downstairs and Neji was the one to answer it.

"Yes sir?" asked Neji.

"I need you to go pick something up for me. I would do it myself, but I'm on the line with an important client." said Hiashi. Neji looked to Naruto and Hinata and smiled.

"Sorry guys. I need to leave. I'll be back soon." said Neji as he headed for the door. Hinata got up and rushed after him to stop him from leaving.

"Wait! Neji, don't leave me alone!" said Hinata as she looked at Naruto while he was trying to solve a problem.

"C'mon, it won't take more than 10 minutes. I'll be back." Said Neji as he left the room and hurried out the main door to his car and drove off. Hinata looked back to Naruto as he was still working on a problem, sighed, and then sat up and stretched.

"So… um…" said Hinata as she twiddled her fingers and thought about what to say next.

"What do you say we take a break? We've been at this for almost two hours." said Naruto. Hinata nodded and sat down with him nervously. This was the first time Hinata ever had a friend home, let alone a boy so she wasn't sure about what to do.

"U-Um…" said Hinata trying to start a looked around the room and spotted a guitar next to the wall.

"Hinata? I didn't know you could play guitar!" said Naruto as he went to retrieve it. Hinata tried to stop him, but was too late as he picked it up and brought it over to Hinata.

"W-Well… I can play a little… b-but I'm not great or anything." said Hinata. Naruto smiled at her and handed over the guitar.

"C'mon Hinata! You must be great in order to make it into KHSMA! Show me what you got!" said Naruto giving her a thumbs up. Hinata shook her head and blushed a bit as she looked at the guitar in her hands.

"I-I can't! I've never played for anyone before. Not even my father or Neji!" said Hinata. Naruto nodded and turned around on the floor.

"Alright then. If I'm turned around like this, it's like I'm not even here!" said Naruto proudly. Hinata looked at the guitar again and then back to Naruto.

"B-But I…" Hinata saw Naruto give her another encouraging smile and then turned away from her.

"Please Hinata! I wanna hear what you got!" he said. Hinata took a deep breath, took a guitar pick from the strings on her guitar and started to play.

Naruto had completely turned around with his jaw hanging open as Hinata made one last strum over her strings. The song she played was amazing! Never once in his life had Naruto ever been blown away before like that! He stood up immediately from where Hinata was standing and applauded like a mad-man.

"That was awesome! No frickin' way! Haha! I had no idea!" yelled Naruto while Hinata was almost exerting herself entirely just to try and quite him down.

"I-I wasn't anything special. I-It was just something I-I was working on…" said Hinata. Naruto gave a long sigh and then gave her his teethy smile and thumbs up.

"Give yourself some more credit! You're amazing!" he said. Hinata couldn't help but a smile a bit at his compliment. They sat back down on the floor and began doing homework again when Naruto suddenly got an idea.

"So how come you never perform or anything like that?" asked Naruto. Hinata blushed a bit and gripped her hands tightly.

"Promise not to laugh?" she asked in a small voice. Naruto nodded and sat still so he could listen to her fully. Hinata took a breath and answered. "I have terrible stage fright. Whenever I get up in front of a bunch of people, I get sick…" she said. She looked at Naruto expecting him to be laughing out loud, but instead he remained calm and mature about the whole thing.

"Is that all!" said Naruto with a smile. Hinata seemed confused as Naruto pointed to her guitar. "You are a great performer Hinata! You really are! Stage fright is easy to get over as long as you know how."

"R-Really! H-How do I fix it?" she asked. Naruto's smile turned mischievous as he suddenly made a plan on how to help Hinata.

Hinata stood on stage behind the curtain with Sasuke, Kiba, Neji, and Naruto. They had rehersed for over two hours on Hinata's song and they were going to perform it for her and with her. It was the first time Hinata had ever done anything like this, and her nerves were all over the place. She felt like she just wanted to disappear like a ghost in the night. She had a guitar, she was wearing different clothes, and she felt like she could be an entirely different person. But no matter what she looked like, Hinata couldn't shake the feelings of fear and regret that she had.

"_This is a bad idea…"_ thought Hinata as she continued to tune her guitar strings. Naruto came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder to catch her attention. "Huh!" she almost yelled while Naruto backed away some.

"Woah! Calm down Hinata! You alright?" asked Naruto. Hinata settled down and shook her head.

"I… I'm sorry. I just don't think this is going to work… I'm still scared…" said Hinata. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder again and gave her his signature smile.

"I promise, we're gonna be with you all the way, Hinata. Once you get out there and start playing, you won't even think about all those people out there, just how much fun you'll be having." said Naruto. Hinata smiled and nodded as the others gathered around.

"Alright guys, we're on in five minutes. You ready to rock, Hinata?" asked Sasuke. Hinata looked at him and nodded slightly. Sasuke smiled at her and then looked at Naruto.

"Naruto. I want you to help Hinata while playing guitar. I'll handle the piano this time, so just make sure you are Hinata's support." Said Sasuke. Naruto flashed him a thumbs up .

"You got it!" he said and turned to Hinata. "You ready?" Hinata's eyes were full of determination all of a sudden and she nodded without a second thought. This is what she needed and she was going to do her very best.

Once everything was ready, the curtain rose and the screaming and cheering of people in the crowd exploded and filled Hinata with fear once again. The d-j guy appeared on stage again next to the band holding a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Without further a due, Light In The Dark!" he yelled. The crowd screamed louder as Hinata stood their frozen. All these people staring at her, wanting her to play and do something spontaneous for once in her life felt like it was all just too much. She could feel the tension building for every second she stood petrified like a stone.

"Hinata!" yelled a familiar voice. Hinata looked down and saw Sakura and a bunch of others cheering her on with smiles and shouts of joy. Hinata looked behind her at Naruto and the others as they smiled at her too. They were all encouraging her. They wanted her to succeed and to move forward. This is what it meant to have friends. Everyone was standing behind her ready for her to finally step out of her comfort zone. When Hinata was finally ready, she nodded and the song began. It started off with Sasuke playing something mysterious and ominous on the piano but very high up and pretty sounding. After a while of waiting, Hinata began singing. (Bring Me To Life by: Evanescence)

_How can you see into my eyes like open doors?  
>Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb<br>Without a soul my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold  
>until you find it there and lead it back home<em>

_(Wake me up)_  
><em>Wake me up inside<em>  
><em>(I can't wake up)<em>  
><em>Wake me up inside<em>  
><em>(Save me)<em>  
><em>call my name and save me from the dark<em>  
><em>(Wake me up)<em>  
><em>bid my blood to run<em>  
><em>(I can't wake up)<em>  
><em>before I come undone<em>  
><em>(Save me)<em>  
><em>save me from the nothing I've become<em>

Naruto's guitar filled the room with nice husky chords at a loud volume as Hinata continued singing. Naruto would echo her, like he was talking, as she sang which gave the song more of an edge. It was almost different from the kind of stuff Hinata saw them do before, but the crowd below was cheering none the less. She could tell they loved it which only empowered her ability to continue on.

_now that I know what I'm without  
>you can't just leave me<br>breathe into me and make me real  
>bring me to life<em>

_(Wake me up)_  
><em>Wake me up inside<em>  
><em>(I can't wake up)<em>  
><em>Wake me up inside<em>  
><em>(Save me)<em>  
><em>call my name and save me from the dark<em>  
><em>(Wake me up)<em>  
><em>bid my blood to run<em>  
><em>(I can't wake up)<em>  
><em>before I come undone<em>  
><em>(Save me)<em>  
><em>save me from the nothing I've become<em> 

Naruto and Hinata could both feel the pressure growing larger as the song went on. They knew the climax of the song was coming and this was when they all had to really rock it. Kiba was thundering away on the drums, Sasuke was playing on the piano, Neji was pounding away on the base, Naruto was dishing out the power-chords and Hinata was delivering the sweet sounding vocals and mild guitar playing. It was time to rock out.

_frozen inside without your touch  
>Without your love, darling<br>only you are the life among the dead  
><em>

Naruto moved up to the micro phone while playing and began the rapping section of the song. Hinata stood by and smiled as she saw Naruto go to town while performing. She could see it in his eyes that he was really enjoying this and that he wanted nothing more than to have a great time performing for all these total strangers.

_all this time I can't believe I couldn't see  
>kept in the dark but you were there in front of me<br>I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
>got to open my eyes to everything<br>Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul  
>don't let me die here<br>there must be something more  
>bring me to life<em>

_(Wake me up)_  
><em>Wake me up inside<em>  
><em>(I can't wake up)<em>  
><em>Wake me up inside<em>  
><em>(Save me)<em>  
><em>call my name and save me from the dark<em>  
><em>(Wake me up)<em>  
><em>bid my blood to run<em>  
><em>(I can't wake up)<em>  
><em>before I come undone<em>  
><em>(Save me)<em>  
><em>save me from the nothing I've become<em>

_(Bring me to life)  
>I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside<br>(Bring me to life)_

The song ended with Hinata finishing the song with a long clean note. When the music died down and the song ended, the entire place shook with applause. An uproar of screams and shouts of joy erupted from everyone who was listening to the show, but most of all from Sakura and the others below who absolutely loved the song. Naruto looked to Hinata and so did Sasuke, Neji and Kiba. They all were really proud of her for taking such a huge step and even they applauded for her. It was all for Hinata. It was almost impossible for Hinata to express how happy she was, so she took her microphone and spoke to everyone in the crowd.

"Thank you so much!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
>The Move is Made<p>

Sakura smiled as she saw Naruto and Sasuke duke it out in the middle of the dojo at school. Naruto had been taking martial arts since he was little and joined the martial arts club along with Sasuke. They were both blocking and striking at each other and countering their moves over again and again. It seemed like they were almost completely matched. At the very end, Sasuke and Naruto both threw a punch at the same time each one colliding with the other's face. They flew back and fell down on the floor opposite of each other breathing heavily. "Huff… huff…" they both went as Sakura and a bunch of their other friends came running to meet them.

"Are you guys okay!?" asked Sakura as she moved a hand under Naruto's head and lifted him up. For some strange reason, Naruto had a big smile on his face.

"Heh heh! Yeah… I'm fine! I haven't had a fight like that… in a long time!" he said proudly. Sasuke who was being held by Ino smiled at him and shook his head.

"Yeah, whatever. Just to let you know… I was holding back." said Sasuke. Naruto perked up immediately and pointed at Sasuke.

"I call bullshit! No way! You fell back just as hard as I did!" yelled Naruto as he began to spaz out. Sasuke copied Naruto by sitting up and pointing right back at him.

"I did it on purpose so that you wouldn't have to feel bad about me kicking your ass!" he yelled. They both stood up as fast as they could and readied themselves for another fight.

"C'mon guys! Stop this!" yelled Ino at Sasuke.

"Yeah! You guys need to learn when to give up!" said Sakura to Naruto. At their words, Naruto and Sasuke burst into pain and started rolling on the ground.

"That's what they get for pushing themselves too hard…" said Shino as he appeared out of nowhere almost causing the girls to shriek. After Naruto and Sasuke settled down and their pain went away, they all sat by the wall of the dojo to cool down.

"So hey, where's Hinata?" asked Naruto as the door opened and Hinata walked in with two bottles of water.

"H-Hey everyone. I… uh… I got some water… for Sasuke and N-Naruto." she said quietly as usual and approached them while giving away the water to each of them.

"Wow! Thanks Hinata!" said Naruto as he opened it up and started chugging.

"Yeah, this is great. Thanks." said Sasuke as he cringed at Naruto while he chugged his water. "If you don't stop chugging it like that, you're going to end up with a stomach ache." Naruto stopped drinking and turned to him.

"No way! I know what I'm do-" Naruto cringed again as he felt his stomach tighten up from drinking. "N-Never mind." Everyone laughed at Naruto's stupidity and continued to have a good time before deciding to head home for the night.

"See ya later guys! Bye Hinata!" said Naruto as he waved goodbye to everyone on his way home with Sasuke and Sakura. Hinata looked back to Ino and Tenten who were the only ones left at the dojo with her seeming confused.

"Um… why are they all… going in the same direction?" asked Hinata. Tenten sighed and went to explain.

"Sakura and Sasuke have been friends since preschool and have lived on the same street for a long time, so they always walked home together. It turns out Naruto's house is in the neighborhood next to theirs so they all go home in the same direction. I gotta tell you though, it's like they have been friends for a really long time." she said as they all watched them walk away together. Ino pulled Tenten over to the side for a second as they spoke in hushed tones.

"What do you think? Should we… y'know?" asked Ino looking at Hinata. Tenten looked in her direction too and shrugged.

"I don't know. If we do, it might break that pour girl's heart. Can we really do that?" asked Tenten.

"Well she's gonna find out sooner or later, so we might as well tell her instead of worry about getting her heart broken." said Ino. The two of them nodded and looked to Hinata.

"Hey, Hinata! Can we talk to you for a second?" asked Tenten. Hinata nodded and shyly came over to speak with them.

"Y-Yes?" she asked.

"We're going out to get something to eat before heading home, would like to come with us? Ino's buying!" said Tenten.

"Hey!" yelled Ino at the declaration. Hinata looked at the two of them, smiled and nodded.

"I-If it's really okay, I would love to." said Hinata. Tenten and Ino smiled at each other and each took one of Hinata's hands and pulled her along with them.

"Okay! Let's go!" said Ino loudly. Hinata couldn't help but smile at the thought of spending time afterschool to go and get some food with her friends.

"Gosh! Why did I have to pay? Tenten it's your turn next!" said Ino loudly. Tenten smiled and drank from the straw in her cup while they all sat down at a table. Hinata got a small hamburger while Tenten and Ino got two huge ones and fries along with large drinks.

"Um… you guys sure do eat a lot…" said Hinata looking at their trays. Tenten and Ino smiled at eachother and began to dig in.

"Well yeah! We're hungry! We only do this once a month anyways!" said Ino.

"It's part of the deal we made with each other to help stay fit. It's a secret from the others but we felt like we could share this with you!" said Tenten with a smile. Hinata was almost shocked that they would trust her so much as to tell her about their secret lifestyle choice. After taking a few minutes to eat and talk, Tenten and Ino looked at each other, nodded, and turned to Hinata.

"Hey, Hinata?" asked Tenten. Hinata was in mid-chew when she heard the question and swallowed t answer.

"Yes?" she asked reaching for her cup.

"Listen… Ino and I were actually planning on bringing you here with us tonight. We want to talk to you about something…" said Tenten.

"O-Okay..." said Hinata and then took a sip of her drink.

"Do you… uh…" said Tenten. Ino was getting impatient as she suddenly blurted out their question.

"Do you like Naruto!?" asked Ino loudly. The question surprised Hinata so much that she almost began to choke on her drink. She coughed a bit before looking at Tenten and Ino.

"Hinata! Are you okay? We're sorry!" said Tenten. Hinata nodded and took a deep breath before continuing the conversation.

"W-What!? W-Why would you a-ask such a question l-like that!?" asked Hinata loudly. Tenten and Ino were surprised by her volume as they sat back a bit.

"Well it's just that… Naruto seems to be really fond of you, and you guys do seem to get along really well." said Tenten.

"And it's been only a few days since your performance with "Light In The Dark" and things just seem to be getting easier between you guys so we just thought…" said Ino as she trailed off. Hinata looked down with an incredibly red face and spoke in a small voice.

"N-Not at all… Naruto and I are just friends… we would never…" said Hinata and she looked up at her two friends. "B-Besides… I've never even liked a boy before… much less do anything else…" her face only became redder at the thought of her being with anyone, much less Naruto. Ino and Tenten looked at each other seeming a bit relieved but looked back at Hinata.

"Look, we're sorry for asking a question like that out of the blue. But the thing is…" said Tenten.

"The thing is Sakura has a huge thing for Naruto." said Ino. Hinata looked at both of them speechless like she was hit upside the head.

"What!? R-Really?" asked Hinata. Ino and Tenten nodded. "W-Well what does this have to do with me?" asked Hinata. Tenten and Ino leaned forward to begin their explanation.

"The thing about Sakura is… well…" said Tenten as she tried to come up with the appropriate word.

"Sakura is a grade-A bitch!" said Ino without a second thought. That description actually hit it on the head.

"W-What!?" Hinata exclaimed.

"Sakura is usually a nice person, but as you can probably tell by now, she is also kind of a bitch. She treats people poorly if they seem "unpopular" to her. She makes fun of how they look mostly or sometimes what kind of person they are if she really wants to be nasty." said Tenten.

"And that's not even the biggest part of it! When Sakura sees someone that she likes, she uses the meanest ways to try and make them like her, not to mention how she treats other people close to him." said Ino cautiously. Hinata looked at the two of them like they were crazy as if she still didn't understand.

"Here's the thing Hinata: Naruto is on her radar right now, and if she wants him: she's going to get him." said Tenten. Hinata looked out the window at the cars rolling by, and let out a sigh.

"But hey, don't worry about it! We just thought that if you did like him, you might want to know. Since that's not the case, no need to worry about it!" said Ino with a large smile. Tenten nodded as Hinata looked back at them with a smile and took a big bite out of her burger. All this gloomy talk was making her hungry.

"Look, just because we fell down at the same time, doesn't mean it was an equal fight." Said Sasuke as the three of them walked down together.

"It totally means that! Did you see the way you fell back!? If anything, I kicked your ass!" yelled Naruto in protest.

"Ugh can you guys just chill out already? It was a good fight, but you guys have been arguing about it nonstop since we left school!" Sakura complained. The two fighters looked at each other, smiled and went on their way.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said Sasuke as they neared a corner. This was where Naruto would split off from the rest of them and head down the street to his house.

"Well, this is it! I'll see you guys later!" said Naruto as he waved good bye and headed down the street while Sakura and Sasuke headed home.

"I felt like today was really long… don't you?" asked Sakura to Sasuke.

"I guess. Really, I didn't pay attention too much." He answered with a small chuckle. They walked in silence for a bit, when Sakura stopped all of a sudden making Sasuke look back at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just remembered, I left something behind at the school! I'll go get it. See you tomorrow!" she exclaimed as she waved goodbye and headed off in the opposite direction. Sasuke returned the gesture and continued down his route.

Instead of going back to school, Sakura had taken a left down the same road as Naruto. This was the day she was going to talk to Naruto about how she felt. Chasing down the street as quickly as possible, she noticed Naruto walking up to his house and she called out to him.

"Naruto!" she yelled. He looked back at her seeming confused and went to confront her with a smile.

"Hey Sakura! What's up?" he asked. Sakura smiled and looked at Naruto's house.

"This is where you live?" she asked. Naruto nodded and looked at the house as well.

"Yeah, its not much, but its enough for me!" said Naruto with some pride. Sakura looked back at him and he looked back at her and together they stood for a moment in silence.

"Can I do something for you Sakura?" asked Naruto. She looked up at his eyes, the sparkling blue reflecting the moon and starry skies, and could feel her heart skip a beat. Sakura wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, pressed her body against his, and pulled him down for a kiss. At first, Naruto was completely shocked from the sudden contact, but he lost himself in his joy and began to reflect the action. They stood there for a good while before parting their lips with Naruto looking deep into Sakura's eyes.

"Naruto… I like you… so, would you like to go out with me?" asked Sakura. Naruto was even more surprised by the question and laughed a bit.

"Hey! Isn't that my line?" he questioned. They both laughed and Naruto leaned in for another kiss. And together they stood outside his house like that, for a very long time. Little did anyone know that it was going to tear everyone's world apart.


End file.
